Parenthesis
by Lauriesf
Summary: A tiny shippish, fluffy, romantic story about Sam and Jack in Washington. No need to say more, I guess ;) Translation of my own story "parenthèse" first published in French. Chapter 2 is rated M but can be skipped.
1. Chapter 1

SG-1 – Parenthesis – Chapter 1

_Disclaimer : don't own the characters of that wonderful story, unfortunately..._

_Warning : you're entering unbetaed territory. The story was originally written in French. I've translated it into English for my dear friend Pauline._

_Thanks to all of you who read my stories : you rock !_

_If you want to put yourself in the mood I was in when I wrote this story, listen to Darren Hayes' Insatiable, Martina McBride's Valentine and Céline Dion's Seduces Me._

_The story that follows is AU. Just a little shipper because I was feeling romantic ;)_

They had arrived the previous evening in Washington for a whole day of meetings with the Air Force top brass for Jack and scientific conferences for Sam. For once, the other members of SG-1 had not been required to tag along, which suited Daniel and Teal'c perfectly fine. Daniel had gone to visit Catherine and Ernest and Teal'c had been granted permission to spend a couple of days off with his son and his old friend Brata'c. And for once, Jack and Sam had traveled in first class and been granted large and comfortable rooms with air conditioning at a hotel in the heart of Washington and though they were used to making do with the bare necessities on their off-world missions, they had had to admit it was a pleasant change.

They had reached the hotel quite late in the evening and had only seen each other briefly in the morning but had agreed to meet for dinner to talk about their day. The programs at the SGC were seemingly ever under the scrutiny of the Treasury and they always had to bend over backwards not to see the program shut down by one of those stupid politicians leading the Congress committees, people who didn't seem to have one ounce of good sense.

Sam's cab dropped her off at the hotel around 18:00. When she entered the hall, she saw Jack had already arrived. He was seating in one of the comfortable leather armchairs in the lobby, waiting for her. He was still wearing his uniform and when she apologized for being so late, he motioned to it and smiled. "No problem, Carter. As you can see it for yourself, I've just arrived."

"How was your day, Sir?"

"Good, if you consider everything's fine for the SGC." She gave a sigh of relief. "Not so good," he added, scowling, "if you imagine me sitting for hours on end answering endless lists of dumb questions."

She couldn't help laughing. Yes, indeed, she could easily picture Jack seething with rage at all those desk job conceited jerks who knew nothing about the program!

Jack noticed for the umpteenth time since he'd known her how wonderful that was to hear her giggle and how much it resembled joyful chimes. His long, boring day suddenly vanished. Only the present mattered.

"Ok. Let's talk about something else... I'm hungry. What about you?" he asked, raising one eyebrow in a very Teal'c-like fashion. She giggled again. He would have done anything to hear her giggling. Actually, that's what he did when he told dumb jokes before heading for new missions or when he played tricks on Daniel. He only hoped that she had not noticed though, knowing Carter, you could bet she had. She never overlooked any detail and her brain was always at full throttle, even when she slept. That he also knew because of the uncountable number of times he'd watched her sleep when they shared a tent off-world. He hoped too that she didn't know that!

"As a matter of fact, Sir, I am. I only had time to grab a sandwich for lunch."

"No donuts?" he cried out, in mock indignation. Donuts and blue jell-o were Sam's favorite food, the gasoline for her wonderful little gray cells.

She shook her head in mock despair. He chuckled.

"Well, in that case, we should get to the restaurant right now, before you faint."

He motioned for her to follow him.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Carter?" He turned around and saw she had not moved and was looking quite embarrassed.

"Can you give me fifteen minutes to change? I really don't feel like keeping my uniform on for the rest of the evening, especially as it's quite warm outside."

Come to think about it, she was right. He didn't particularly care for keeping his uniform on either. Like her, he much preferred his BDUs. He bent his head a little to the side, as if her question required some thinking, just to tease her a little, then nodded his assent. Threatening her with his forefinger he then added: "fifteen minutes, not a second more, Carter, understood!"

She beamed at him, sending shivers down his spine and headed for the elevator.

He had been to his room to change too and was waiting for her in the lobby when she stepped out of the elevator. _Whao!_ Was all that came to mind. She was wearing a red dress that fastened in the front and fell under her knees. It was only tame in appearance. It was sleeveless with a nice cleavage and slits on the skirt that showed her legs up to her knees when she walked. She smiled at him and he silently prayed that he didn't quite look like the idiot he felt like, standing there, gaping at her. Carter clad in a dress! He felt as if his brain was padded with cotton. He couldn't think when she smiled at him that way! She turned around to leave her pass at the reception desk and he saw that the dress was also low-cut at the back, tightened at her waist with two wide ribbons, which hugged the swell of her breast, her slim waist and clung around her hips. She wore crystal and silver pendants that swung when she walked and a charms' silver bracelet. She had low-heeled silver sandals that made her look even more feminine, especially to one who only saw her in SF uniforms.

His mind was still trying to process all this brand new data when she came to stand in front of him. "Ready when you are, Sir!" she said, saluting him mischievously.

"Carter, had I known you'd get all dressed up, I would not have selected jeans and a shirt," he said, embarrassed, turning towards the elevator, obviously intending to go and change.

She laid a hand on his arm and countered: "I love this blue shirt and you look good in jeans, Sir." The feel of her hand on his arm gave him the impression the temperature had suddenly risen sharply around him.

He breathed in deeply and locked his eyes with hers: "Carter, please, humor me, will you? We forget about the Sirs tonight, ok?"

She felt as if she were melting under his chocolate-brown gaze. All she could think of was : "Yes, Sir."

"Ah!" he said, threateningly, "It's Jack, got it?" He offered her his arm.

"Yes, Sir, I mean Jack," she said, taking his arm. "Where are we going?"

"Just across the street. There's an Irish pub with plush chairs, good beer, good food and music... How does that sound?"

She answered with yet another smile that melted his heart. The day was definitely ending much better than it had started.

They talked about their day of work, and also about this and that. They had just finished the main course and were waiting for dessert when the small band sitting in the corner of the room that had up until now played background music, started playing Fly Me to the Moon. He suddenly saw her eyes brimming with tears and she averted her gaze when she saw he had noticed.

"Sam, what's wrong?" he asked, suddenly worried.

"Nothing, a mere nothing."

"Sam, look at me." She forced herself to look up. "It's obviously not a mere nothing. Can't we talk about it?"

She breathed in deeply and brushed off her tears. "My mom loved that song. She had chosen it to be the theme song at her wedding with Dad."

He smiled and standing up, held out his hand to her. "Then you should never be sad when you listen to it. Come, let's dance."

She shook her head. Being in his arms was all she had ever wanted but not that way, not because he pitied her.

He bent towards her. "I'm not doing it out of pity, Carter. I only want to dance with you. Come."

She understood that he would not take no for an answer so she put her hand in his and followed him to the dance floor.

He laid his left hand just above the small of her back, sending a wave of pleasure down her spine. His right hand had not let go of Sam's and he was now holding it again his shoulder. She rested her free hand on his arm, making him shiver. She had dreamed of a moment like this one for years but her dreams were but a pale imitation of what she was feeling now. Yet, as Jack was taking her out onto the dance floor, she couldn't help but be troubled by what she felt. There was a world of difference between daydreaming and making one's dreams come true, especially if one considered the situation they were in. It was well and fine to say it was just a dance but she was well aware it was much, much more than that for them both. Everything in him seduced her and she couldn't disregard the way he had looked at her when she'd stepped out of the elevator.

Now, there were strict rules in the Air Force: no personal relationships were allowed. They could spend quality time with their colleagues but until now, the situation had never been ambiguous as they had always been with the other members of the team. Being alone in this pub, a step away from their hotel to top it all, was a blatant infringement of the most elementary regs. If they got on slippery ground, they were both eligible to be court martialled and though it was a well-known fact General Hammond loved them dearly, he wouldn't be able to do anything against that. They would be separated, their careers would be over and the team would be dismantled, the consequences of which for the program she could not even start to fathom.

"Sam?" Jack had stopped dancing and was looking at her. She felt as if he could look right into her soul. "You stop that right now!" he ordered her in mock anger.

"What?" She hadn't done anything, for God's sake!

"You stop thinking for once! You little gray cells need a rest and I would like to dance with Sam, not Major Carter, for crying out loud!"

"Jack, I'm sorry. I was thinking about a new project..." she attempted to divert the conversation.

"Sam, stop telling me lies, will you? I know what you're thinking about and I refuse to spoil the evening with that." He led her to their table where dessert had been served and held the chair for her then he sat and took hold of her hand. "Tonight, there's no Air Force, no SGC, no regs. We don't have forty lifetimes ahead of us, we've just got one and I'm already well into mine. I think I'm entitled to say we've done more than our share. There's nobody here who knows us. Only one night, Sam..."

He let go of her hand and concentrated on eating his chocolate cake so she would have time to think about it. They had never talked about it. No promises had been made. Chances of being one day allowed to date were so close to zilch that they didn't even dare confess how much they missed each other when they were not in the same room. All her repressed feelings were suddenly resurfacing. She was dumbfounded to hear him voice out his feelings. After years on the field, working on mission after mission, depending on each other for their survival, they had developed a non-verbal form of communication that was only theirs. Daniel and Teal'c knew it well. Sam and Jack didn't need to communicate to understand each other. One glance was enough. In fact, he'd never spoken so much for such a serious matter.

He was trying to focus his attention on the cake, playing with his food rather than eating it, for once, waiting for her to decide, when he heard her giggle. He looked up in amazement. "What's so funny?"

She beamed at him: "I'd never heard you speak so much!" she teased him.

He smiled at her. "Is it a yes?" he asked.

She bent her head to the side, her head resting on the palm of her hand, as he sometimes did just to aggravate her.

"I mean, can you forget about the rules and regs for tonight?" he added, intimidated by her wide blue eyes.

She didn't answer. She only got up and held out her hand to him, clearly inviting him to leave the restaurant.

"What about your cake?" he asked, nodding at her untouched plate.

"No big deal. I have everything I need right now," she answered, winking at him, almost making him blush.

They left the pub hand in hand and went for a walk to enjoy the evening's cool atmosphere then they retraced their steps, their arms around each other's waist, stopping every few feet to kiss. His warm hand around her waist was fondling her hip and though they'd first only exchanged a few shy kisses when they'd left the restaurant, they were now being much less reasonable on the way back.

"Jack..." she whispered against his shoulder as he was holding her against him and was kissing her from her earlobe to the base of her neck.

"Hum..." he answered absent mindedly.

"Someone could see us... Please, try to be sensible, will you?" she begged him.

"Don't want to!" he answered impishly, with the same mischievous look he had when he was up to something and she realized she'd have to be reasonable for them both.

"Jack?" she insisted.

"Yep?" he said, still kissing her.

"We should go back to our hotel. It's getting late..."

He held her tight and warmth spread through her whole body. His eyes locked with hers and she felt her resolve instantly melting away.

"You're the boss tonight, hon'. Whatever you want, ma'am."

Sam missed a heartbeat. Either he was the cleverest wheedler she'd ever known or he was really sweet. Her heart opted for the latter.

"My room," she said, not daring to look up at him, knowing she was blushing.

He cupped her face in his hands and bent towards her to drop a tender kiss on her lips.

"And?" he prompted.

"And I don't want you gone when I wake up tomorrow morning..." she added shyly.

"No way I'm leaving you, Sam," he said, taking her towards the hotel.

They found themselves with an old couple in the elevator who glanced at them when they got inside, holding each other's waist. Sam did what she could to repress a fit of laughter and by the time they reached her floor, she was on the verge of tears. As they were leaving the elevator, Jack bent towards her and whispered in her ear: "It's going to be a long night, honey." He had not spoken very low and could see that the old people had heard him so he thought _What the heck! a_nd moved his hand down her waist in a long, sensuous caress that was anything but accidental. Then he turned to the old couple, beamed at them and bid them good night, choosing to ignore the utterly scandalized look on their faces.

"I think I shocked them," he said innocently to Sam as they were heading for her room.

"You're such a brat!" she chided him but couldn't help laughing anyway.

"And I'm insatiable too..." he added, taking the pass from her hand and opening the door. "You still can say good night to me and kick me out if you're not sure..." He wanted to make sure she wanted it as much as he did.

"No way, Sir. You're here to stay. You're mine and mine alone tonight," she said, taking him into her room.

"Carter! I told you not to call me Sir!" he chided her, pushing her gently against the wall and closing the door.

"So you're not allowed to call me Carter either! Too bad... It always turns me on when you do and I love the idea of you being my colonel..." she remarked impishly.

"You mischievous little rascal! You're going to pay for that!" he whispered in her ear as he started unfastening her dress, kissing her all the while.

The kiss that was at first suggestive became downright sensuous when he decided it was high time to move on to more serious matters and started exploring her mouth with his tongue as he unclasped her bra with one single swift movement. The dress was already on the floor at her feet and all she had left on now were her panties and shoes. He took her in his arms and carried her to the bed. "Not very original, I know," he whispered as he lay down on the bed beside her. "But that was the first option that came to mind, though," he added between two kisses as she was starting to unbutton his shirt, "if you're not too tired, later on, I have a lot more to explore..."

"Show off!" she retorted as she smothered him with her kisses.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

SG-1 – Parenthesis – Chapter 2

_This chapter is rated M but can easily been skipped without modifying the storyline._

She had started taking off his clothes slowly, all the while kissing each part of his body she unveiled and Jack was wondering if he had ever been subjected to a more sophisticated torture than the one she was using on him at that very moment. She protested when he tried to flip her onto her back and get the upper hand. "Not so fast, Sir," she smirked at him mischievously. "You said I was in charge, remember! You'll move when I say so!" she added triumphantly.

Jack couldn't believe his ears. He had unwillingly created a monster! He smirked too. "Where did you hide Carter? This can't possibly be her. She would never, ever dream of being disrespectful to her CO..." He tickled her. Sam giggled. "No giggling, Major!" he reminded her for the umpteenth time. "You well know how dangerous that gets for you when you giggle. That's the kind of things that utterly turn me on... Yes, well, that too..." he added when he felt her hands caressing his chest then getting south towards his abdomen. She undertook to unfasten his jeans then slid her hands down his back to take it off very slowly. "Much better," she said, obviously satisfied, as she looked into his eyes. "Now we're even!"

She bent over him and he felt the caress of her breasts on his chest. Another torture, he thought, trying to remain stoic. He closed his eyes. "I like my body when it is with your body," he heard her whisper to him.

He opened his eyes in amazement. She had just quoted the first line from a poem written by E.E. Cummings. "You don't need to be with me to feel good, Sam, your body is prefect!" How many officers had he seen watching her, eying her, each time they'd been in Washington, how many times had he balled his fists in anger at the thought of them being allowed to court her when he couldn't!

"It's not true. I don't like my body. It's far from being flawless. But when I'm with you, I don't care anymore. It fits yours so well. The rest is immaterial. It is so quite a new thing... I like your body too," she added with a tender smile as she went on quoting the poem, tracing the bend of his shoulder with her forefinger. Moving it down his arm, she laced her fingers through his and settled her head on his shoulder after kissing it.

He combed his hand through her hair then moved it down her back, his touch as light as a feather's, making her shiver with desire. He flipped her onto her back, thinking the torture she had subjected him to needed to be repaid in kind. He grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head as he gave her a languid kiss. Sam suddenly felt like her brain was on overload. There was no way she could think when he did that to her. When he bit her lower lip and then started exploring her mouth with his tongue, she definitely felt as if she didn't even know how to breathe anymore. She should have expected it though! Each time he got into her personal space, it was as if her brain only printed blank pages. And he must have known it from the amused and proud look he had each time he entered her lab greeting her with a "Whatcha doin', Carter?", knowing perfectly well she would only get back to work when he'd left. So, what he was doing now was definitely sabotage! She moaned when he kissed her and he propped himself up on one elbow to look at her, obviously amused. "I like kissing this and that of you..." he said, quoting the poem too, touching her lips with his forefinger, then kissing her neck, then nipping at one nipple, making her cry out in mock indignation, and finally making his mouth trail down her tummy. He slid his hands under the elastic band of her panties and removed it gently. He then quickly took off his shorts and came back to snuggle against her.

The touch of his skin against hers sent a wave of uncontrollable desire through her whole body. She had never wanted a man like she wanted him. To her scientific mind, this was unaccountable for, because though she told herself the attraction she felt could be explained by a mere chemical reaction, she couldn't explain why it was him she wanted so much. From their very first contact, it had been as if electricity had run through her whole body. She had tried to get rid of that addiction but nothing had worked, neither logic, nor reason, nor distance or even the time spent since the first time they'd met. So what was the use of fighting it? Anyway, she couldn't even think. Her whole body was drawn to his and all she wanted was to feel even closer to him than they already were, lying on this bed, clasped in each other's arms.

"Jack?" she whispered in his ear.

He nuzzled her neck. "Hum?"

"I know we've got the whole night ahead of us. It's not I don't want to cuddle but I've waited for this for so long... Please," she begged, "now..." She didn't have to beg some more. His mouth took possession of hers and his thigh moved to part her legs and she gasped as he pushed inside her, holding her tenderly in his arms. She let pleasure overwhelm her, overcome by the bliss of finally being his, by his intoxicating fragrance, by the happiness of being held in his strong arms and by the fire that was implacably rising from deep inside her hips. The same fire that had started to smolder in her chest when he'd taken her in his arm and kissed her outside their hotel, that same fire that had made her feel as if she were ablaze but that was only the beginning of an incontrollable furnace.

"Jack?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Please, again..."

"Again?" he teased her, nuzzling her neck, a smile of triumph on his handsome features. "You do know I'm not going to stop until you cry for mercy, right, Sam?"

"I know," she moaned, her mind clouded with desire. "But you have to know I won't beg for mercy," she whispered in his ear. "If this must happen – if we must break the rules – let us do it right. I want you to turn my bones into mush. I don't want to regret one single moment of what is going to happen in this hotel room. Make love to me as if this one time were going to be the only one ever," she added, a wistful smile tugging at her lips, as she pushed her hips further against his, sending a bolt of heat through his body. "Make me lose control, Jack."

When she tried to recall what had happened next, her memories were fuzzy but very sweet. She recalled sensations rather than motions: his kisses scorching her skin all over her body, his tongue inside her mouth, eliciting, renewing passion over and over again, the sense of losing track of time, of being cut from the outside world, the wonderful feeling of weightlessness in his arms as if their feet were never going to touch the floor again, his warm and gentle yet strong and demanding hands on her, guiding her, holding her close to him, the ever mounting passion and the final bliss of release.

"You did turn my bones to mush, you know, hon'," he said, chuckling, as they were lying in bed, her head on his shoulder, one of her lithe legs draped on one of his, her hand resting on his chest.

She lifted her head and beamed at him. "And so did you," she answered. "And... I didn't beg for mercy!" she added triumphantly, her wide blue eyes locking with his.

"In that case," he said, lifting her on top of him, "you do understand that the game is still on? No way I'm going to let you win that one."

She grinned at him, straddling him. "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you, mister!" she replied. "I'm younger, fitter and more supple than you are... and I'm a woman..."

"So?" he prompted, raising one eyebrow expectantly.

"Well, mister, I can last longer at that game than you can... much longer!"

TBC


	3. epilogue

SG-1 – Parenthesis – Epilogue

The next morning, they sat side by side on the plane that was taking them back to Colorado Springs. Sam had briefly dozed off on his shoulder in the cab and the coffee the air hostess had offered them soon after take-off had been most welcomed.

They had hardly slept that night – only dozing off for a couple of minutes in each other's arms, just for the pleasure of doing it at least once – not wanting to waste the precious time they had. The night had been sweet but long and they had not been able to part and had taken their shower together in the huge bathroom in Sam's room, a shower that had lasted much longer than was necessary. Only minutes from heading to the airport had Jack left her to go and pack his bag.

They had talked a lot that night, about everything that brought them together, not wanting to make plans, only enjoying the pleasure of being together, never uttering once the fateful "I love you" even during their moments of most intense pleasure. They both knew that those words didn't make any sense. Being together made them happy. Period. No need to make promises they would most likely not be able to keep. They knew they'd have to make do with what they already had at Cheyenne Mountain and off-world, mere nothings that had changed their lives to make them more beautiful ever since they had met, those few moments of tenderness and complicity in a world governed by rules and duty. Jack's forays in her lab that were making her crazy when he tried to distract her from her work, lunch at the commissary when he bribed the cook to get her blue jell-o, even briefings in the conference room where they were always sitting side by side and where, sometimes, God knew why, their knees touched and lingered there for longer than they were supposed to. That was all they had, that, and the memory of their night in Washington.

When they had finished their breakfast, Sam laid her hand on his. The caress made him shiver and he turned to her inquiringly. Her hand was slightly trembling on his.

"Jack, nobody must be allowed to know... I'm not ashamed of what happened but if anyone came to know about it... You're my CO and you're a man. They would make you responsible for it."

"I know... What happens in Washington stays in Washington, Sam. We'll never talk about it again. But you must know I have no remorse. I'm not ashamed I broke the rules and I will never be able to forget one single moment of that night in your hotel room," he said, taking her hand and dropping a tender kiss on it. He then replaced it gently on the armrest and turned his attention to the plane itinerary on the screen in front of him. Sam switched on her laptop and started working on one of her many projects. When they got off the plane, they were Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter again. Their night in Washington would remain what it was meant to be: a parenthesis in their lives.

THE END

Hope you liked it, folks! Please, don't hesitate to R and R :)


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